 Slam Ranks Iguodala 26th Slam is in the process of releasing their top 50 list. Today, Andre Iguodala's name came up at number 26. The ranking is bad, as is the article that accompanies it, but take a look anyway. I'll quickly explain why after the jump.
At some point, aren't we going to be able to move beyond the points-per-game argument? Seriously, I mean, if he was averaging like 12 ppg maybe I'd buy that "he doesn't score enough to be called a superstar," but 18.8 on 14 shots and 47% from the field is damned efficient for a wing player. Scoring is not an issue. Khalid Salaam, the writer of the Slam article, puts his foot in his mouth almost immediately. At the end of the second paragraph he calls Iguodala "better-than-average (though not elite) defense." I rarely swear in posts here, but that's complete bullshit. Iguodala is absolutely an elite defender. I took a close look at his defensive work at the beginning of April, using easy-to-digest metrics to depict exactly what Iguodala has done to the best wings in the league. The long and short of the argument is this: When a team with a "legitimate" superstar plays the Sixers, Iguodala shuts that superstar down, and more often than not, outscores him. If you don't believe me, there are plenty of advanced metrics you can check, start here, then go here. If you'd like some film, go back to the first round of the playoffs this year. Hedo Turkoglu, the supposed savior of the Raptors, did absolutely jack while Iguodala was guarding him. Stan Van Gundy spent most of his coaching time trying to figure out how to get Hedo away from Iguodala. Part of me hopes the Princeton offense provides Iguodala with more open looks so he can pump up his FGA and PPG, just so he'll finally get the national recognition he deserves. Then the rational side of my brain takes over and realizes we have a wing who plays within himself on offense, scores efficiently, involves his teammates with excellent passing, rebounds the ball at a high rate, shuts down the opposing team's best wing, takes all the big shots (and hits them at an excellent rate) and plays every single night. How many players in this league can you say all of that about? I guarantee you the answer isn't 25. 
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I really can't comment on the ranking, but I agree he is off base in his analysis.
1st off, Iguodala is an impact player- a star (even if not a 1st level, Lebron like superstar.) These kinds of players do not have to fit exact positions. What was MJ, a SG, and SF, a PG? Is Lebron his team's SF, PF or PG? Who cares? Star's have the ball in there hands so much that they go beyond simple positional limitations.
Second, Iguodala brings unique things to the table that only 2-3 players offer. He finishes inside at a percentage that is only second to Lebron for a non-big. He also generates a ton of inside shots to take advantage of this - even in the 1/2 court offense(36% of his shots are inside compared to
Fact is, Iguodala gets himself more inside shots and finishes at a higher percentage than he used to. This means he can be a more effective/efficient player despite not improving his jumper. The same things have happened with Lebron and DWade (still not good jump shooters but rely less on jumpers) but Iguodala is not enough of a high volume scorer to get the same kind of credit.
Thirdly, Iguodala rededicated himself to defense last year. Look at his PER differential at SF (most of his minutes last year.) Not only is Iguodala productive (21.6), but the SF he defends is held to 13.6. That PER differential of 8.2 is 3rd in the NBA for SF's(Lebron off the charts, Melo 8.3.)
Lastly, Iguodala is drawing teams best wing defenders. Lets see what happens in 1-2 years once Thad starts abusing people. If Iguodala starts drawing the weaker wing defender he will go off.
All of this is without Iguodala improving his jumper. But NBA players typically get better jumpers after age 25. If this is the case with Iguodala, again, watch out.
O.T., Brian I think you are right about Thad being taller than Brand:
http://www.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=942773&p=20799372#p20799372
Yeah, I saw that one picture and I thought Thad was a bit taller, but then I thought maybe Brand wasn't standing straight, or it was a perspective thing or something, but then all the other pictures looked the same. Gonna be tough for teams to match up w/ the size of the eventual starting lineup:
Jrue - 6'4"
Iguodala - 6'7"
Thad - 6'8"-6'9"
Brand - 6'8"-6'9"
Dalembert - 6'11"
lol I said the same thing to Dannie over at recliner, and he didn't see it that way. He did look taller in all the pics in my opinion.
Unfortunately, the "experts" will never get it until the Sixers go deep into the playoffs.
Agree, but they should give him more credit than he gets.
The Sixers have been a 500 team that has made the playoff's 2 years in a row. The team is a mirror image reflection of Iguodala. They are athletic, uptempo, high effort without much offensive finesse or jump shooting.
Typically when a team is a reflection of its best player and the team has some success they lead player gets more credit than Iguodala has. But the Sixers are almost never on national TV, which hurts. Also, the media tends to pigeon-hole Iguodala as an athlete/dunker without a jumper, and they ignore his stat stuffing more complete game.
For some reason Iguodala is perceived as on the level of a lot of solid complementary swingmen like Caron Butler and Howard. While Iguodala is more of his yteam's focal point and hes team is making the playoffs.
26 isn't THAT bad. Last year he was low-40's I believe. Who would you rather have? I have Iguodala in the top 15.
I think somewhere 15-20 sounds about right. He is on the cusp of being on the Olympic team- which makes sense given 5 or so top 15 players are non-Americans.
Agreed. I don't get why all the fuss. This is a ranking of the top players across the entire league of thirty teams, including all positions not just shooting guards. I suspect when the tears are wiped away, you'll see that Iggy will wind up among the top 5-7 shooting guards in the league. It's about right.
We appreciate him, and that's all that matters.
Yes sometimes I expect a lot out of Iggy, but that's because I know how awesome he can be.
Jack McClinton waived by the Spurs. Give him an invitation for next week, please.
Go. get. him. Worth a look-see.
Come on Ed, if you're going to throw a bone to Dionte you HAVE to look at this kid.
The release is lightning quick, and he is more skillful overall, and most importantly, rhythmic-streaky with the deep J.
Agree on Jack McClinton.
Brian: its safe to say that you like Iguodala even more than I do
the ranking: any ranking of players is always going to be subjective. if i was building a team i'd have Iguodala over at least 15 of those other 25 but thats beside the issue anyway. I dunno who put the stat up but head-to-head comparisons is where you can really see his value. I mean whats the use of Brandoy Roy's 27ppg if Iguodala holds him down to 15 amidst turnovers and scores 27 on his suspect defense.
To me, SLAM magazine is like the NY Post of sports magazines, barely worth while to line a bird cage with and full of nonsense and bs...as far as 'the curve' and understanding the game better, SLAM will probably take longer than Peter Vescey to catch up.
I love Iguodala, but without the hype machine, respect follows results not the other way around. If you don't put up big numbers, you have to win playoff series.
The 76'ers need to do better than .500 ball this year, and they need to win at least one playoff series for Iguodala to get any credit.